Ferrandino was honored for championing passage of the Colorado Civil Union Act in 2013, making Colorado one of 20 states, plus the District of Columbia, to offer recognition to same-sex couples.

Metropolitan State University of Denver, along with its president, Stephen Jordan, and board chair Robert Cohen, were honored for having led MSU to provide access to higher education for undocumented students, which ultimately helped pave the way for the Colorado Legislature to pass the ASSET Bill in 2013.

Drawing on a quote from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice” — ADL’s regional director, Scott Levin, noted that Ferrandino, Jordan and Cohen were all people who worked tirelessly to bend the arc just a little closer to justice.

Ferrandino was introduced by Fran and Anna Simon, one of the first Colorado couples to celebrate a civil union on the night the law went into effect. In giving thanks for the award, Ferrandino observed that “If ADL is behind me, I know I’m doing the right thing.”

Jordan and Cohen, who were introduced by a current MSU student who has been a beneficiary of the tuition reduction, said they viewed the university’s decision to offer a reduced tuition rate as simply “the right thing to do.”

The event was co-chaired by ADL Civil Rights Committee leaders Daniel McKenzie, Monica Rosenbluth and Holly Stein Sollod. Over 160 civic leaders and community members were in attendance.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.